Now is not the time for clever comments.

Based upon current events in the forum, should we jump right on that deal to make sure it's ours, and send payment immediately?

Or do we step back and think about it for a bit?

What does it mean when a deal is too good to be true? When someone sells a desirable pistol for two or three hundred dollars under market value, or sells gold at a price that seems to indicate the seller is a fool?

This is not an indictment of anyone here. It terms of scammer activity, it has been dead quiet in this forum for quite a few years. But, thieving insects will always be part of the human race.

Each and every time you respond to an ad in Classifieds, you must start out assuming that someone is trying to rip you off, and you must act accordingly. Insist upon a phone call with the seller. If they give you a hard time, contact me at the address in my profile. I can see the IP address of the ad they posted, and of their responses they post, and I can quickly determine with that information whether or not you're safe. And the thieves should be aware that using a VPN will not help them.

If yu have questions of the seller, don't accept any bullshit excuses from them. Again, get me involved.

Last time we had this problem, it was scammers responding to the WTB ads of legitimate members, and then running off with the money sent. Now, they are hacking the accounts of established members and offering desirable goods at prices that are- what? Prices that are too good to be true.

Assume everyone in Classifieds is a thief. Anyone who gets offended because you are being cautious, let me know. They will have me to deal with.

Change your forum password to something long and complex. If you're logged into the forum, you can change your password easily, by going into your profile and clicking the "change password" check box.

As a security measure, avoid using the email address in your profile as your Display Email. Any questions about this, do not hesitate to ask. You have an email you used to register with. This is an integral part of your profile. You may also have a Display Email. This is the email members can see if you elect to show an email. This is the address in the "Display Email" field of your profile. This email address is superficial, and not tied to your forum account. If you leave this field blank, no one can see any email address for you. For the purposes of using Classifieds, we do recommend displaying an email address, so this complicates matters. To be clear, no one except forum admins can see your email address of registration. Unless you use that email address also as your Display Email, no one but a handful of people will ever see that email address, and certainly no non-admin member. So, do not use that email address as your Display Email.

Lastly, your email address of registration- I recommend that you change that password, too, to something long and complex- 12 to 14 characters, using upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters, and change both of these passwords twice a year.

These measures will not stop scammers entirely, but it will make their thievery more difficult. The key to avoiding getting ripped off is approaching all transactions with skepticism. Thieves can't do much to cautious, savvy forum members.

If you miss a great deal because of your caution, take comfort in the fact that, one way or another, at least some snake in North Africa did not get your money, and that good and legitimate deals will come around again.


This information and these cautions are being scattered about in the forum, in this and other threads, and this is on purpose, so that it can't be missed, and this is why I'm repeating myself in these threads.

Follow my advice, and be highly skeptical of anything offered for sale in this forum, and you will be fine.

My recommendation is that every member of this forum should check Classifieds a couple of times a day to see if there's been an ad posted with their username.

quote:

I recommend that you change that password, too, to something long and complex- 12 to 14 characters

Is 14 the maximum allowed? I usually use 16, although my current PW has 14.

I don't know of the maximum, but 12 to 14 characters minimum is what I'm recommending.

Appreciate the update, I had changed the password as was indicated in the previous thread about Classifieds, and, just deleted the public profile email.

Eazy Peazy....

The part of “established forum members” in the title threw me off but thank you for clearing that up.

The caution applies in spades, of course, to newer members, but everyone here already knows to be cautious with members of unknown reputation.

I am addressing the latest tack in behavior of scammers, which is to hijack accounts of high post count, longtime members, where potential buyers in the forum would proceed with sending money, no questions asked.

All buyers must adopt the attitude that everyone is an imposter and thief in Classifieds, and work backwards from that assumption.

I'm going to continue to pound home this point, and closely monitor all new ads.

Also, I encourage all members to check Classifieds a couple of times a day to see if any ads have been created with their username. It takes just a few seconds and it's worth the time.

I have locked up my jelly donut...

Since I don't normally post in the classifieds I might not detect a hack on my account.

For this reason I've started to visit the classified forum & scan the column of thread starters for my name. It's an easy check all y'all may want to perform daily.

Alrighty then... done.

Thanks, Para.

Thanks Para, very much..

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:

quote:

I recommend that you change that password, too, to something long and complex- 12 to 14 characters

Is 14 the maximum allowed? I usually use 16, although my current PW has 14.

Today I updated my forum password with a 20 character password.

quote:

Originally posted by StorminNormin:

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:

quote:

I recommend that you change that password, too, to something long and complex- 12 to 14 characters

Is 14 the maximum allowed? I usually use 16, although my current PW has 14.

Today I updated my forum password with a 20 character password.

I updated mine with more than three times that amount and it was accepted with no problem.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
My recommendation is that every member of this forum should check Classifieds a couple of times a day to see if there's been an ad posted with their username.

When I went to my profile to change my password, I also selected “notify me of new posts by Honestlou”. I’ve never used that feature before, but this may be a good idea. I suppose it could get burdensome for a very frequent poster, but I’ll be notified if I (or a nefarious alter ego)posts.

Also, I have a question regarding passwords and usage on the forum. Does Sigforum shut you out if you try a certain number of incorrect passwords? I always thought that was a good idea- shut you out for 5 minutes after 3 incorrect attempts, an hour after 3 more, etc. would that not stop any brute force attempt to gain access?

quote:

Originally posted by Brianp90:
I updated mine with more than three times that amount and it was accepted with no problem.

Well, I admire your commitment. I imagine that the limit may be 255 or 256 characters.

quote:

Originally posted by honestlou:
I have a question regarding passwords and usage on the forum. Does Sigforum shut you out if you try a certain number of incorrect passwords? I always thought that was a good idea- shut you out for 5 minutes after 3 incorrect attempts, an hour after 3 more, etc. would that not stop any brute force attempt to gain access?

It's funny you should mention this. Yes, there's a 10 minute lockout for excessive password attempts, but I was never aware of this function of the forum software until a couple of days ago, when assisting a member to get back into the forum.

Keep in mind, guys, that no matter how strong a password you have, it can be stolen these days under certain circumstances with you clicking on a bogus link sent to your email, so be very careful about what you click on. One wrong click can do it. This probably will not be the case for your forum password more likely for your email password, or for banking sites or credit card sites or the like.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:

Keep in mind, guys, that no matter how strong a password you have, it can be stolen these days under certain circumstances with you clicking on a bogus link sent to your email, so be very careful about what you click on. One wrong click can do it. This probably will not be the case for your forum password more likely for your email password, or for banking sites or credit card sites or the like.

Sound advice and something I have always followed. I get some very realistic emails from places I do and don’t do business with. In the case of ones I do business with, I NEVER click on the link in the email. I go to the website and look at notifications and many times they didn’t send me anything and it was a phishing attempt.

Back to the top.

When buying in Classifieds, be ever mindful. Assume every seller is an imposter and thief, even if you recognize the username, and work backwards from that assumption. If you have any doubts about anything you see in Classifieds, use the report-this-post function or email me directly at the address in my profile.

Members are advised to avoid using a VPN when posting in Classifieds, as I am checking posts throughout the day. Any usage of VPN in Classifieds will be viewed with suspicion and those members will be scrutinized closely.

The forum continues to be accessible only to logged-in members for the time being, and the Classifieds section of the forum is now and forever accessible only to logged-in members.

Just a reminder to not become complacent. Approach all transactions with skepticism and caution.

Sound advice, Para. If I may add to your comments, those of you who use Apple devices (specifically iPhones and iPads) may not even know that you have a VPN active. It’s the “iCloud Private Relay” service that’s turned on by default in your iCloud account. I generally post on this forum from an old Windows 7 machine (which has no such features inbuilt), but I am also logged in on both my iPhone and my iPad.

To clarify, iCloud Private Relay is not a full VPN, but it does obfuscate your location enough so as to be different from the city listed in your profile.

Who's a thief in Classifieds, guys?

E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E

https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...0086715?r=4380086715

You must double and triple verify identities of sellers before sending funds. Start by assuming that everyone in Classifieds is trying to rip you off, then work backwards from there.